ReEntry
by TeeJeh
Summary: Contains spoilers! Set a few hours after Portal 2's end. A meteorite collision gives Wheatley a chance to apologize to the test subject he betrayed, but it's not easy to just say 'sorry' to someone you tried to kill. Rated for possible swearing later.
1. Earth? Earth!

**Re-Entry**

_**I do not own Portal or any of it's characters, the rights to Portal and all of it's characters are owned by Valve.**_

Far above the earth's atmosphere slowly drifted two Aperture Science personality cores. Both had been stranded in space for several hours after they were shot through a portal to the moon.

"-and that one looks like a pot." Wheatley had many regrets about what he had done for his first few moments in space, how he betrayed his best friend, tried to crush her into the ground, trapped her and forced her through dangerous tests, and on top of that, had the nerve to tell her to let go of him when they were being sucked through the portal on the moon. He was sorry for what he had done, he had been bossy... And monstrous. But, feeling bad about it wasn't going to change anything, and he knew that. He was now simply trying to get past it, make the best of being in space, pointing out planets, stars, meteorites, and the sort with the space core.

"Big dipper." The space core said in a less than excited voice. His first few moments in space were his best he ever had in his life. Then he realized that space just wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and he just wanted to go back to earth.

"Right, right. Oh look! Another meteorite!" Wheatley exclaimed seeing a space rock soaring in their general direction. The space core glanced over, kind of stunned, the core that had become frustrated with his excitement in space was now getting excited about every other thing that passed. Wheatley looked on as it came closer and closer, growing bigger in his optic until he realized that this meteorite was a lot bigger than the ones he'd seen before.

"Uh oh..." Wheatley mumbled to himself. His optic whirred around his case trying to get himself moving, finding himself unable to. In the chaos of it all Wheatley suddenly heard a small computerized voice that he found all to familiar. The one that kept nagging to him about how the facility was about to explode.

"Projectile approaching, activate emergency thrusters?" It asked.

"Yes, yes! Hurry up!" Wheatley never knew he had those. Would have been nice to know before he got disengaged for 'Her' body. As a small pair of thrusters extended from the sided of his casing. He flipped his optic back seeing space core not even looking at the oncoming meteorite.

"Watch out!" The space core flipped his optic around as Wheatley had, with his 'brow' slanted, before the meteorite plowed into the side of him, carrying him toward earth at an incredibly high rate of speed. Wheatley put his thrusters in reverse and started chasing the meteorite. Soon finding himself next to it, Wheatley began to call out to his only friend left in the universe.

"Hey! Are you alright mate?" He called out. For a moment, silence, then a scream. Not of pain, but excitement.

"EARTH? EARTH!" The space core exclaimed. Wheatley averted his optic toward the blue and green planet that he was now barreling toward. Wheatley thought for a moment. He wanted the chance to get to her, apologize... This may be his only chance. He quickly searched through his utilities to find a grappling hook or something to latch on to the meteor with, finding nothing of the sort, Wheatley had an idea. A very dangerous and stupid idea. He got into a firm position behind the hurdling space rock and reversed his optic, leaving his plug-in port facing it. He kicked the thrusters into overdrive and rammed into the meteorite. A few of the ports broke off and others bent, except one, one stuck into the rock and hooked in.

"I'm on my way... I'll find you." He whispered to himself hoping that the test subject... No... She was more than a test subject. She was a friend. His best friend... Hoping that his best friend would be would find it in her heart to forgive him. Regardless if she did or not, he WOULD find her and he WOULD apologize. The space rock began to rumble and heat up as it entered the earth's atmosphere. Wheatley extended the thrusters that he now knew how to use and used them to attempt to slow the meteorite's decent. Not only did it not work, but both the thrusters ripped off, quite painfully as well. He attempted to look around but with the port attached directly to the back of his optic, he was unable to see a lot of anything, other than a dark blue sky and a few other meteorsites. Then Wheatley felt it, the meteor was beginning to burn up in the atmosphere. Despite the ability to survive in temperatures of up to 4000 degrees kelvin, the pain was no less different. It was already enough that he was designed with emotion, but what kind of sadist builds a robot that can feel pain? Wheatley didn't have time to dwell on this thought at the Space core flew around the meteorite and flew in front of him, apparently free from the meteor.

"Hey! Wait! Grab me! Grab me! Grab me!" Wheatley screamed as loud as he could, but the Space Core simply disappeared into the sky with his thrusters. Wheatley had no idea what to do the computerized voice chimed something in about his altitude but before it finished Wheatley could feel a sudden jolt of pain and hear the sound of an impact before going offline.

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><p>It had only been a few hours since Chell had escaped from Aperture, she was no longer a test subject, no longer 'subject name here'. She was Chell, and with her freedom, ended her mute habits. While she had been in that facility, she chose not to speak so she wouldn't dignify her surroundings with a response, but now that she could actually enjoy her surroundings (regardless how endless and repetitive a massive field of tall grass was), she found the will to speak again. However, she still had no one to talk to. Her Companion Cube no longer spoke to her either, although that could just be her mind leaving it's somewhat insane and paranoid state, or it could be mad at her for throwing it into that incinerator. Chell tried not to think about it beyond that point, it just brought back more bad memories of that horrid place. A rain had picked up for a short while, much to Chell's enjoyment, she had a chance to wash off the gels and other unsorted filth from her clothes, washing away the science. Not surprisingly , she planned to get a new one should she find civilization. A few more hours later night fell. She sat on the Cube looking up at the stars. She was unsure why, but as she stared at the specs of light that decorated the night sky, all she could think about was the little blue eyed personality sphere that she'd launched into space only a few hours prior. Part of her missed him, just a little bit. Another part wanted to see him come crashing into the ground in a flaming ball of scrap. Why? Why had he tried to kill her? They'd been through so much together, before he was plugged into the body of that homicidal AI the time she spent with him was the most enjoyable in all the time she'd been in Aperture. As she thought about this she noticed a meteor shower was heading right over her. She'd never seen one before, although she'd heard of them from that computerized voice when she went though those first few test chambers for the second time.<p>

"Hey! Wait! Grab me! Grab me! Grab me!" Chell couldn't believe what she had just heard. Did she just have some sort of hallucination? She watched the meteors crash into the ground behind her. She slowly and cautiously approached the area they had landed, a few of the space rocks still hot from their entry. In the middle one that seemed to have crumbled apart on impact was a familiar shape. A small, metal orb with handles on it. It was Wheatley. How on earth did he make it to the ground in one piece? Chell grabbed his handles and picked him up. The two metal panels that simulated his eyelids were shut, but she could still hear a steady hum of the many little bits of tech that kept him running. This little ball of emotion... No, she could not let the old times get to her. He had betrayed her and he didn't deserve to look her in the eyes again. She put him down right back where she'd found him and began walking away, picking the Cube back up on her way.

"You shouldn't leave him back there." A light, sympathetic voice spoke up. Chell had heard the voice a long time ago. It was the voice of the Companion Cube she now held under her arm. She looked down at it, as if not surprised by the Cube's little outburst.

"And why is that?" She asked it, not with her mouth, but with her mind. She'd never vocally spoke to the Cube in test chamber 17, but when it talked, it was like it could hear what she was mentally saying.

"He's your friend, he deserves a second chance." Companion Cube pleaded. Once again memories flooded back to her from test chamber 17. When she reached the end of the chamber, the Cube spoke in the same tone, she never really heard what it said when she stood holding it above the incinerator, but the tone was a quiet yet demanding one. Chell stopped walking, releasing a long drawn out sigh. Chell didn't want to give him a second chance. An eternity of loneliness was the best Wheatley deserved, but her faithful Companion Cube was never wrong about anything before. She turned back, put the Cube on the ground, and walked back to Wheatley. He would get ONE chance to redeem himself, so when he woke up he had better choose his words carefully.

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><p><em>Hey everyone, I'm sort of new to writing and this is my first story. So uh... Yeah, reviews would be nice, tips on how to improve my writing skill (For lack there of) and whatnot. <em>


	2. Short and sweet?

**Re-Entry chapter 2**

Chell did NOT enjoy this, and not just because she was lugging around the metal ball who not only a few hours prior was trying to blow her up, tried to poison her AND told her let him go when they were both being sucked though a portal on the moon. No, right now, Chell was tired of dealing with holding up this kind of weight! She had to carry both the Cube and Wheatley together, without the portal gun's tractor beam no less. It was HEAVY and she was not used to carrying things, she nearly broke her arms trying to catch Wheatley when he first dropped off his rail. Couldn't he have giving her some fair warning? A simple 'Oh! By the way, I'm really heavy so you may want to brace yourself.' would have been nice. Stupid Wheatley, stupid GLaDOS, stupid Aperture science! Chell let out a sigh and whipped the sweat from her forehead. She'd been walking for awhile and it had been a long time since she had actually slept. The relaxation vault did not count as a normal sleep. She put the Companion Cube on the ground and sat down in the tall grass, raising her arm to lift Wheatley up and place him atop the Cube. After that Chell reached down and grabbed her jumpsuit that had been crumpled down at the hip since she'd woken back up in that room where she met Wheatley before pulling it down and balling it up. She took a quick look down, she hadn't been out of the jumpsuit since before she started testing. She never knew she was wearing shorts underneath them, like the shirt they were white and brandished the Aperture logo down the left leg. Okay, now she REALLY needed to get new clothes. Chell laid down, tucking the jumpsuit under her head before laying down on her side. It would probably be awhile until she found any kind of human settlement, but at least it would be nice to see people who's lips she could see move as they spoke. Before she shut her eyes she looked at Wheatley. Chell lightly pushed the Cube away with her foot. The farther away from her he was while she slept the better. Once she couldn't get the Cube any farther away from her she curled up and closed her eyes, hoping for a good dream. Something not related to Aperture.

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><p>Was this what android hell was like? Nothing but quiet darkness for eternity? Wait... Did Wheatley even qualify as an android? He was just a ball programmed to feel emotion and pain. Didn't androids have humanoid bodies? If anything 'She' was closer to an android than he was. He'd have to find this place's manager and tell them that they're violating their own policy by letting him in. He should have listened to the scientists. They told him, they said that if he ever plugged himself into an unauthorized port he would die, a space rock was most likely unauthorized. Seems not everything they told him seemed to be a lie.<p>

"Vital systems reactivating." Wheatley would have jumped had he been able to move... And had legs. It was the small computerized voice again. He still couldn't see anything other than some text on a black background. Words began to fly across the the empty wall saying several things he couldn't quite make out. He was pretty sure that they had something to do with his visual sensor's lack of function. He was hoping he'd landed on something he could move from. It had only just crossed Wheatley's mind how exactly he would start looking for his friend, his thrusters were gone now and from what he'd seen from space, earth was a very, very big planet. However, it DID cross his mind to find out what her really name was. He wasn't sure why he hadn't asked while they were in the facility, but that really didn't matter right now. Wheatley needed his optic lids open.

"Reactivating Visual sensor functions." Exactly what Wheatley wanted! It was such a rarity for things to go right for him. But hey, a broken clock... Wheatley didn't quite remember the saying but it had something to do with being right. But at this point he was more concerned about the fact that his optic lids were opening. The blue light darted around, surveying the what was around him.

"Alright. I'm on something flat. There's the sky... Some grass..." Wheatley continued looking around, trying to find out where he was. He didn't hear much besides some wind and insects. Whatever he was laying atop of... something, it had some sort of childish heart on it. He didn't really understand why young humans drew hearts that way. They really didn't even look anything like that! He continued to survey the area until his odor sensors picked up a familiar smell. Another thing thing Wheatley didn't understand. Why on earth would he need a bloody sense of smell? Especially when he had to tend to something as smelly as humans. Speaking of smelly humans, that was the exact thing Wheatley could smell. With a quick flip around Wheatley saw the source of the smell. He just couldn't believe it at first. He had to be having one of those things that the humans call a dream. It was her! Right there! This couldn't be real. There was no way actually landed right next to her, asleep no less! This gave him plenty of time to think of something good to say. He began to run different greetings through his processors. Something short and sweet? Maybe he should start with the apology... No, greeting first, apology later, of course that's considering she doesn't smash him against the ground the instant she wakes up.

"Uh... Hey, glad I found you!... No... To straight forward." Wheatley mumbled to himself.

"How are you? Nice to see you again after I tried to... Yeah that won't work either..." He was completely unsure what to say. How in the world can you happily greet someone who you nearly killed not that long ago? This would be harder than anything he'd ever tried to do. You know, aside from trying to kill her. Maybe just letting her see a cheery face would help! He raised his upper optic lid back into his case and raised the lower one to a point that half his optic was obscured, his basic enjoyment face setting. After about 10 minutes passed Wheatley began to think.

"How long do I have to hold this face?"

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><p><em><em>Shorter chapter than chapter 1. Hopefully the next one will be longer. <em>I'm starting to notice that I'm using the word 'Optic' too much... Gonna have to work on that. Chapter 3 may not come for awhile, having some trouble with the beginning of it. _


	3. Sorry

**Re-Entry Chapter 3**

_**Alright everybody, sorry about the delay, just got hit by some writers block for the beginning here, also I'm not going to divide Chell and Wheatley's halves of the story this time around. One more thing, my spell check is having problems so let me know if you notice any mistakes.**_

_Chell tried to open her eyes, she really did. Nothing, nothing would budge. She heard some muffled noises but her hands seemed to be covering her ears. She'd be scared out of her mind if she didn't find this so... Familiar. The ground beneath her was made of metal and what felt like tears were running down her face. Wait... Chell's arms began to lower and she immediately heard a scream._

_"I AM NOT A MORON!" Was that?... No._

_"YeS yOu are! YOu're a mOrOn they buiLt tO make me an iDiOt!" No... Not GLaDOS! Not aperture! She just got out of that godforsaken place! She had to be dreaming! Why couldn't it be one of the test chambers? At least she had SOME fun there! Why did it have to be this exact moment? When she was in the elevator to the surface and Wheatley... Chell's train of thought was broken by the sound of a crash as Wheatley smashed GLaDOS... well, she was POTaDOS at the time, through the glass of the elevator._

_"Well how about now? Now who's a moron?" Wheatley raised the floor mounted claw that he used as an arm. Not again... Chell just wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare._

_"Could a moron PUNCH. YOU. INTO. THIS. PIT? COULD A MORON DO THAT?" Wheatley repeatedly struck the top of the elevator, driving it further and further into the hole in the floor. Chell wanted to brace herself for what was about to happen, but her body moved to the edge of the elevator and looked up through the gap between the floor and the top of the elevator. Wheatley was looking down through it as well._

_"Uh oh..." Wheatley mumbled. Wait, what? Chell didn't hear him say that the first time, he also looked... Concerned. Before she had the chance to think about it, the floor beneath her gave way and she was plunged into the darkness below._

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><p>Chell's eyes snapped open and she shot up from the ground, immediately coming face to face with that little metal ball again. Had the nightmare not put her back in her mute mindset, she would have probably screamed. After jumping back a few inches she tried to catch her breath, between the dream and being faced with Wheatley the instant she woke up she needed it. She shot a glance over at Wheatley, who was awake again apparently and was trying to get a closer look at her. Other than Chell's light panting, they were both silent. Once she finally caught her breath she stood up, looking down at Wheatley in the most overbearing way she could. She wanted to remind him that he's the tiny fragile thing that can be so easily broken now. Wheatley's eye pulled back a short way into his body. He was in trouble and he knew it, or at least that's how it looked to Chell.<p>

"Well... This is a little awkward isn't it?..." 'Oh you think?' Chell thought to herself. Wait a minute, that sounded like something the normal Wheatley would say! The Cube might have been getting at something.

"Glad to see you're free and everything..." Wheatley was acting... Normal. Chell wasn't exactly sure how she should feel. On one hand, he did try to kill her, on the other hand, he was her best friend before he did, and he was back to acting like the latter. Chell took a moment to gather herself, this was all a lot for her to take in and think about. Wheatley being surprisingly silent for once. Why was he even here? Of all the places he could have POSSIBLY landed, why here?

"Isn't that obvious?" The Cube spoke up. Chell's eyes instantly shot over to it. Wheatley seemed to jump when she did. Chell lightly chuckled at his reaction. Wheatley looked so weak right now, and Chell was just eating it up.

"Not really, no." She thought back at it. Wheatley slanted the metal panel that was supposed to be an eyelid, Wondering what exactly it was Chell was looking at. After a bit of stretching, and putting the jumpsuit back on Chell picked the Cube up, letting Wheatley slide around on top of it as the weight shifted. This was going to be a fun day. Chell didn't have time to dwell on teasing him though, it was time for her to continue her search for civilization.

"Fate wants you to make up." Coming from anybody else, Chell would have began laughing hysterically, but this was the Companion Cube.

"That's a bit farfetched, don't you think?" Chell asked, looking down and continuing to confuse Wheatley to no end. Chell didn't really care about that at this point.

"I'm surprised you'd still use that word." The Cube did have a point. Chell just escaped from an underground facility where she used a gun that could shoot rips in space and time to fight and insane rouge A.I. and escape, only to be dragged back in by a robot and having to do it all over again with a metal ball that thinks like a human, who proceeded to take over and betray her. Not only that, but the insane rouge A.I. got put into a potato, became her friend, and helped her ultimately defeat that metal ball when she shot that portal to the moon. Farfetched nowhere near a word that could describe what she'd lived through. Finally Wheatley chose to speak up again.

"Look, there's something I wanted to say to you." Chell stopped walking and put the Cube back down. This had better be important, Chell wanted to get her search going and she wasn't in the mood for any distractions. Wheatley just sat there for a few moments, he looked deep in thought, again, that was new. Wheatley never thought things through more than a few seconds. A few moments passed and Wheatley still didn't say anything. Chell motioned to him to hurry up and spit it out. She refused to be on speaking terms with him right now. Sure she wanted someone to actually talk to, but she was NOT ready to make up with Wheatley yet..

"Alright, I've been thinking hard about what to say right now, and..." Wheatley paused. Chell gave him a questioning look. If Wheatley could breathe, he would have taken a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." Chell just stood there, staring at him. Her face seemingly unsure what emotion to display. Chell walked up to him and grabbed one of his handles, lifting him up to face level. Wheatley was almost sure she would actually accept his apology. Chell pitched her arm back before throwing Wheatley off somewhere in the tall grass.

"SORRY?" Chell screamed. It had been the first thing she had physically spoken ever since she'd been taken in to Aperture. Had he not be caught up and the terror of being thrown, Wheatley would have probably been surprised by it.

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME, AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS 'SORRY'?" Chell had never been this angry before, sometimes she got frustrated at GlaDOS's annoying taunting but never really angry. Even when she was fighting Wheatley she was feeling more betrayed than anything else, but how dare he expect that he could just say he was sorry and expect everything to be okay.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through?" Chell began to lower her voice as she stomped toward Wheatley. He tried to right himself, but he was stuck on his side and one of his handles were bent.

"I've been shot at, nearly crushed, thrown around and forced to test!" Oh was Wheatley gonna get it. Chell kicked him, sending him rolling down a small hill. Wheatley grunted with every little bump he hit.

"I put my all trust in a little metal ball who I had just met, and put it in charge of everything!" Chell didn't even want to refer to Wheatley by a gender anymore. She properly righted herself so she could slide down the hill, once again kicking Wheatley as she reached the bottom.

"And what does it do? It locks me in an elevator and tries to crush me!" Chell walked over and picked Wheatley back up, his optic lids clamped shut in fear of what she'd do next. Nothing happened. He reluctantly opened the lids to see something he hadn't seen in a awhile. A smile on Chell's face.

"...And regretted it." Chell carefully put him down. After that she began to walk away, climbing back up the hill. Was that it? She was just going to leave him with a smile? Well, she did make some good points... She really had made more sacrifices than he did. All that power ruined everything. He would have been free _AND _had a friend. Now the only friend he had was the Space Core, and god knows where he was at the moment. Wheatley wasn't sure what to do now, when he was drifting through space at least Space Core was there to listen, even if all he cared about was space. While Wheatley was lost in thought Chell had slid back down the hill with the Companion Cube. Chell watched as Wheatley began to ramble to himself, and she was loving every second of it. Once Chell had her fill, she cleared her throat, instantly grabbing Wheatley's attention.

"Oh... Phew... Thought you'd left me alone out here for a second there." Wheatley chuckled to himself for a moment before sighing. Knowing his luck she'd come back to kick him a few more times. Chell picked him back up, laying him on top of the Companion Cube again.

"Before you get any ideas, I'm still angry." Chell wanted to make this perfectley clear. Wheatley wanted to question why she'd stopped trying to break him, but realized it would be wise not to. If he did she might reconsider.

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><p><em>Wasn't sure where to end this chapter so I just chose to do it there. I'd just like to thank those first 3 reviewers for the positive reviews and giving me the confidence to keep this thing going, without you I would have just given up or it would have fallen prey to my usual procrastination. I'm also thinking of adding the HurtComfort genre to this story, but I'm not too sure. Chapter 4 will hopefully come faster than this one did._

_Due to a case of writer's block I'm having trouble with chapter 4, how would you guys like a bonus mini-chapter about Space Core while you wait?_


	4. I'M ON EARTH!

Re-Entry Bonus chapter! (aka, writer's block filler)

_**Chapter 4 is being hit by a very TINY case of serious writer's block, I haven't been able to finish it by my deadline. As a consolation, here's a bonus mini-chapter about what happened to the Space Core after chapter one. I originally put a shorter version of this at the start of chapter 4, but for this I've extended it for this. It also feels like I'm making more and more mistakes while I'm typing. Again, let me know if you see any that I missed so I can fix them immediately.**_

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><p>"Earth? Earth!" The Space Core was ecstatic. He was heading right for earth. Oh all the great things he remembered about earth! …Well he didn't have many memories of earth but he knew he loved it! A lot more than boring old space. He couldn't hear much because of the roar of the meteor entering the earth's atmosphere but he heard something from the blue eyed core. He wasn't sure what it was because he was so caught up by the fact that he was heading toward earth. It was something along the lines of 'Earth's alright mate!'. Of course it was! It's earth! And he was going to be on it soon! What was he going to say when he got there? He needed to make a better first impression than he did with the sun. Bits of the meteor began to burn off and the Space Core began rattling around in the indentation that he had become wedged into.<p>

"Dad! I'm going to earth!" Space Core eagerly awaited a response. Dad hadn't said anything in awhile and it was starting to worry him. He was pretty sure that it was because he'd grown bored with space.

"Losing altitude, activating emergency thrusters." Space Core heard a little voice in his head. He wasn't sure what it was. Was that dad? Was dad on earth? His thrusters extended from his sides and pushed him free of the meteor. He watched the meteor fly past him as his thrusters carried him upward. Oh hey! That blue eyed core was on the back of it.

"Hey wait! Grab me! Grab me! Grab me!" The blue eyed core yelled. Why would he want that? He was going right toward earth. It just hit Space Core that he was not. He was going up! He didn't want to go up, he wanted to go down! How do the thrusters turn off? Suddenly something hit one of the thrusters sending him spinning around. Another smaller meteor had hit it. He spun out of control in some random direction, eventually passing over a forest. The thrusters began to run out of power and he crashed into a tree. Space Core went offline from the impact.

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><p>The Space core opened his eye panels, the top on moving slower due to a rather large dent in it. He looked around, trying to see where he was. He could make out a few things, his vision still a little blurry from having just come online again.<p>

"Trees... Grass... Rocks..." Only one place had two of those things! Space Core gasped... or at least he would have if he had lungs.

"I'M ON EARTH!" He could hardly contain himself. Sure he was stuck in a tree, hanging by one of his thrusters from a branch, but he made it! He was on that little blue and green planet! He looked around, trying to see everything earth had. The trees, the rocks, the little furry thing that was curled up on top of him. He wasn't really sure what that was called. Maybe he could ask that metal thing out in the middle of that field he was next to. He didn't have to wait very long, it seemed to be heading in his general direction. As it drew closer the furry thing on Space Core's head got up and climbed back up into the tree's branches and he could see that there was a human sitting on top of it.

"Hey!" Space Core called out, the human who until now had looked more focused on the ground now looked up at him, it's face was frozen in surprise. He didn't know why it was so surprised. The metal thing stopped moving and making noise and the human stood up and stared at him.

"Earth guy! What's your favorite thing about earth?" Space Core was happy to have someone to share his thoughts with again, especially now that he was back on earth. The human slowly approached him, the same expression still plastered to their face. It reached up and slid Space Core off the branch, holding him sideways by both his handles. After staring at him for a good five minutes the human carried him over to the metal thing, another thing Space Core didn't know about, although at this point is was more interested in where he was being taken.

"Where we going? Hey! Hey person! Where we going?" The human tied him to the back of the metal thing before sitting down on top of it. It and turned something, apparently causing the metal thing to start shaking and make noise again. Space Core was beginning to get frustrated, this human reminded him of that lady who introduced him to that blue eyed core, never talked. At least she seemed to be listening and taking intrest. Space Core didn't really have anything else to do now but look around at the stuff in this field, like the birds they just flew overhead.

"Ooh! That's a bird! Earth bird! Chirp chirp!"

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><p><strong><em>Again, I'd like to apologize for the delay. Writing is a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I've learned that now. I still hope to get at least one chapter out a week starting with this one, but I'm not going to make a promises I'm not sure I can keep. Another thing I'm noticing now. 'Wasn't sure'. Another thing I'm using too much. Gonna have to work on that too I guess... 'Another thing'. Dang.<em>**


	5. Humans need water don't they?

Re-Entry Chapter 4 (technically five. But for the main story it's 4.)

_**Okay, after about 2 weeks chapter 4 is finally here! Truthfully towards the end of this chapter my writing started to feel repetitive to me so I tried changing some things around. Then again, I'm my own biggest critic so I don't really know. As a note the chapters may begin to slow down after this because now I'm starting to work on another story. Anywho, enjoy the new chapter.**_

Wheatley shared a long boring silence with Chell as she carried him toward a tree, standing alone in the middle of the tall grass. From what Wheatley could tell, it was very hot. He just remembered that humans could not withstand those temperatures, or at least not for very long. She had been slowing down quite a bit since she started walking again. That's right, humans need water don't they? From what Wheatley could remember, she hadn't had any water in over a day. Although he wasn't too sure about when she fell down that one hole... And then when he smashed the elevator through the floor. He stopped his thoughts right there. Wheatley didn't want to remember that anymore, it was time for a fresh start. Chell had also been trying to recall the last time she had a drink of water. The relaxation chamber kept her properly hydrated for the whole time she'd been asleep, so she she'd had no water in 2 days. Now would be a good time to find it. Chell could only cool herself by sitting down in the shade. Chell put the Cube down and Wheatley with it. She took a look around, her breath heavy and strained. She couldn't see much beyond the the tall grass. Chell released a sigh and looked up. A small amount of sunlight broke through a gap in the leaves and shined on her face. It was pretty ironic really. Chell spending all that time trying to escape and now she was just fighting to save herself from dehydration. The world's just messed up like that some times. Among her thoughts Chell finally had an idea.

"Hey, does your eye have a zoom feature or something like that?" Chell asked, not really looking at Wheatley. He paused for a moment to look over. He wasn't sure actually. Out of all his settings he never really checked any of them out, mostly because the scientists told him HE WOULD DIE if he used any of them. Wheatley began scrolling through the features. All of them with the same 'You will die if you use this' warning.

"Uh... Gimme a sec... Yea- No wait... That's the... Grappling hook..." Wheatley had felt stupider before, but finding the grappling hook now, after he had checked so frantically and not found it, that had to rank in his top 5 moments of feeling stupid. Wheatley questioned how he could even fit all this stuff in his case. Wheatley finally found it at the bottom of the list next to some little half empty bar thing. He didn't know what that was nor did he really care.

"Alright, I foun- AHHH! How'd you get so bloody big?" Wheatley did the closest thing to jumping a metal ball could. Had Chell not grown used to Wheatley being so clueless her hand would be planted on her face right now. However, seeing as this was Wheatley and she was tired, Chell really couldn't bring herself to. She picked up a still very confused and terrified Wheatley and thought about what the best way to do this would be. Wheatley mentioned a grappling hook.

"What side of you does the grappling hook come out of?" For a moment, Chell regretted asking him that. As Wheatley checked it Chell cringed at the idea of where it might come from.

"Uh, left case opening, looks like." Chell heaved another sigh, this time it was one of relief. She picked Wheatley up and aimed his left side at the top of the tree, holding on as tightly as she could. He rolled his optic to the left, trying to see what she was doing.

"Oh! Brilliant! Let me just launch this thing." Wheatley activated the hook and braced himself for launch. Wheatley felt a light kick coming from his side.

"Did it launch? It didn't go too far did it?" Wheatley couldn't look around with the rope protruding from his side. Chell looked down. The grappling hook was just laying on the ground. Chell put Wheatley down and picked the hook up. Of course she would have to throw it. That's how thing have to go. She finally gets her freedom and life just keeps on throwing every obstacle it can at her. Well, as an crazy man once said, when life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Chell swung the grappling hook in circles over her head. It was funny, out of all the things she'd done since... Ever... This was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever done, at least in her opinion. Chell released her grip and the hook flew up through the branches.

"What's going on? I just felt the rope stop moving." Wheatley was still clueless to the situation. All he knew was that he fired the hook, and then she dropped him. Uh oh...

"Oh no... I didn't kill you did I?" More than anything else in the world Wheatley hoped this was not the case. He had just gotten... Well, not her friendship but he had appeased her enough to get her to take him along with her. And he forgot to ask her her name! He been so preoccupied by his other thoughts he forgot about it entirely! The saddest thing was, only a day ago this would have been what he wanted. Chell didn't answer him because she was busy pulling herself up the tree. She didn't even hear what he said. When Chell finally reached the top, she looked around. She couldn't make out much, a lot of it was too far away. She began to pull Wheatley up by the hook's rope.

"What's happening?" Wheatley felt himself being hoisted up by something. He still couldn't move his optic with the rope sticking out of his side. He began to bump and bang against the trunk of the tree and a few branches on his way up until he could finally feel the familiar grip of a hand.

"Hey! Who's there? I'll have you know, I am a master of paradoxes and I will make your head explode!" He threatened. This reminded Chell of a day ago when GlaDOS tried to fry Wheatley's programming with a paradox. Wheatley being unfazed by it... Come to think of it, it was actually a bit of a fond memory. He was at least acting like the loveable oaf that she'd befriended and it was actually kind of funny to see GlaDOS's plan fail. Chell snapped out of these thoughts when she nearly feel out of the tree. She did NOT want to do that. She'd left her long fall boots were back on the ground. In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to take them off in the first place. After getting herself righted again she turned Wheatley around.

"Alright, I'm gonna need you to-"

"AHHH! GHOST! Wait... Do ghosts actually exist? " Wheatley screamed before drifting into quiet rambling, interrupting Chell before she could tell him what to do.

"Wheatley." Chell spoke up. Wheatley stopped rambling and looked at her.

"Focus. I'm not a ghost." Wheatley looked down at the ground for a moment, his optic scanning it for something.

"Right, I don't know why I thought you were a ghost. I didn't think I killed you. Where'd you get that idea?" Well, that was a load off Wheatley's mind. He did not want to kill one of his only-. Wait! What happened to Space Core? Wheatley hoped he was all right. Alone. With no companion. No one to talk to endlessly about space. Poor guy.

"... Anyway. I need water. I'm going to hold you up so you can use the zoom to look for some, got it?" Wheatley nodded and Chell held him as high above her head as possible. Again, very heavy.

"See anything?" Wheatley began to look beyond the range of human eyes, beginning to name off the things he saw.

"Grass, grass, clearing... Ooh! There's a small stream over there!" Wheatley cheered. Chell made a mental note of where she'd pointed Wheatley when he said that and lowered him down to face level. After a moment of silence Wheatley was wondering if he was going to be congratulated on a job well done.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me?" Chell shook her head. Before Wheatley could ask her why she began to lower him back down to the ground. Well, at least Wheatley knew it now. He was just a tool. A tool for her to get what she wanted. Actually, it didn't matter. He was glad enough that she'd chosen not to smash him into the dirt. Sure, she hadn't REALLY accepted his apology, and sure, she did rough him up a bit... Okay, she roughed him up _A LOT_ but here she was still, carrying him around. This was some deep stuff. This was probably the most Wheatley had thought about anything. Once he was on the ground he saw her climbing back down the tree. Huh, he still didn't get her name yet. Chell walked over to the Cube and carried it over to Wheatley. He was starting to earn her trust again. If she did find that stream that apology just might get accepted. Although she was still pretty mad about how calm he was about it. How on earth did he expect that she'd just forgive him after all that? It made her blood boil just thinking about it. She strapped her long fall boots on and picked Wheatley back up, placing him on top of the Cube.

"I wanted to ask you something..." Wheatley stated. Chell already knew what he was going to ask, or at least she thought she did.

"I know what you're going to ask, and you'll get your thanks when we get to the stream." The black area of Wheatley's optic widened. Really? That was the only reason? After all that thought? Something seemed to be trying to click in to his head but he couldn't put his handle on it. There was something else he was going to say. Oh well, it was a mystery he'd solve later. At least it wouldn't be by himself.

_**And that was chapter 4. Hopefully there won't be anymore delays but, as I said last chapter, no promises. Got another story brewing up too as I said above so chapter five may not get out for awhile. I'd also like to thank my reviewers again for the support on my first story ever. I was sure that it would be a bust but you guys proved me wrong. Also, I'm glad to see people liked the Space Core chapter. Since there is at the very least 1 and at most 2 chapters left in this story I may add another one about him.**_


	6. Thank you

Re-entry chapter 5

_**Chapter five! Which is technically chapter 6 but in the main story it's 5. After more than three weeks. I've stopped work on that other story I was working on since I'm having some directional issues, so these chapter's speed should pick up again, SHOULD pick up again. I had to cut this one a little short because it was already taking too long and didn't want to have it take longer. But enough with this, to the story!**_

Walking. Walking. Walking. MORE WALKING. Chell was sick and tired of walking! She'd been walking for what seemed like an hour and she still hadn't found that stream Wheatley had. She was getting more and more thirsty and more and more irritable. Wheatley wasn't helping anything with his endless stream-... Chell did not want to think about water, it just made her thirstier. To rephrase, with his endless flow of ideas to pass the time.

"Ooh! Let's play I spy!" Wheatley cheerfully suggested. Chell just released a sigh and kept walking. Wheatley took this as a yes and began looking for something.

"I spy with my little optic, something... Yellow!" Chell gritted her teeth, it took every ounce of self-control she had to not throw him at the ground and stomp him into the dirt right now, and in this heat she had a bit less self-control than usual.

"The grass?" Chell muttered, a distinct growl poorly hidden behind her words. Wheatley only just began to pick up on how stressed she was getting. Knowing this, he did the only logical thing in his mind. Use the mighty power of music to cheer her up! Now where was that radio feature? Chell was really starting to regret not drinking any of that rain water yesterday. Life gave her a chance and she blew it. Why was she complaining? She was free! It was the thing she'd technically been striving for hundreds of years! Wheatley finally found the radio feature, his top handle detached on one side and pointed into the air. Chell didn't even notice, she had her eyes fixated forward. He picked up a signal and turned on his speakers. Chell jumped. Music! Out of nowhere! Hold on a second... That was that song from the radio in test chamber 2 of GLaDOS's second run of tests. Great, now her mind was back in aperture, GREAT JOB WHEATLEY!

"Wheatley, turn the music off." Wheatley was surprised by her reaction. Back when he was in human management at aperture the humans loved it when he played music. Oh wait, this wasn't your average human. This was a hardened test subject. The human who defeated 'Her'. The human who survived his tests and went on to survive being point-blank with several bombs and still having the motor skills to shoot a portal to the moon. He did not remember her ever being very cheery either. Maybe he should stop thinking about it and turn the music off. After shutting the radio down and a few more minutes of silence Wheatley was completely bored. He began to check his settings and attachments again. It wasn't much but at least it was something to do. Chell noticed that some dark clouds beginning to gather in the sky. With the sun blocked out Chell took the chance to hasten her walk, now that it wouldn't cause her to overheat. Now she was lightly jogging. Maybe if she was lucky it would start raining again. But of course it didn't. That would be to easy.

"How far away was that stream?" Wheatley didn't really check what the distance for the his zoom-in feature was when he saw it, but he was pretty sure it wasn't that far away. If he was right they should be hitting it any time now.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we should be there any second now." Wheatley was... Pretty sure. Yeah, definitely coming up. Any second now. Chell hoped for both their sakes that he was right. A few more moments passed. Still nothing. Wheatley thought of something. What if he just saw what he wanted to? He WAS an intelligence dampening sphere. Or at least that's what 'She' said. Maybe he just saw some off-colored grass and assumed it was water. Wheatley noticed that there was a tire sticking out of the ground.

"Watch out for that tire." Wheatley warned just a little too late. Chell tripped over the tire, still trying to process what Wheatley had just said. Her face ended up planted in some... Water? WATER! HE WAS RIGHT! THE LITTLE BALL WAS RIGHT! Chell pulled herself up to see Wheatley laying on his side. Chell had never smiled this widely, it was actually hurting her cheeks... Or maybe that was just from hitting the ground under the water. The point was, they found the stream!

"Like I promised, congratulations! You did great Wheatley!" Wheatley shot his own version of a smile back at her. It was the happiest she'd ever looked in all the time he'd known her. Chell cupped her hands and scooped up some water. This was going to be the best water she'd ever had. Period. She sipped it out of her hands like it was they were the last drops of water on the earth. That was one of two problems solved. She was still hungry, but at least the water made her feel full. She fell back against the tall grass and looked up at the sky. The clouds were already beginning to break up. She'd been doing a lot of thinking while she was walking through all that heat, the tall grass, that snake she nearly stepped on, and she'd come to a conclusion about one thing. She let her head fall sideways to look at Wheatley.

"Y'know, you've done a lot of things that almost got me killed, at least sixty percent of which was intentional..." Wheatley was wondering what her point was. He already knew this, he WAS there after all.

"And I've realized there's something I need to say to you." Chell paused and looked away from Wheatley, like she was trying to find the right words. She sat up and reached over, pulling Wheatley in front of her.

"Thank you." Wheatley's optic widened and his handles dropped. What reason could she POSSIBLY have to thank him for that? IT MAKE'S NO BLOODY SENSE!

"You're probably wondering what I mean." Really? He only just did the personality core equivalent of going slack-jawed. In his own mind, Wheatley couldn't find any reason, she already congratulated him for finding the stream.

"Had you not gone completely mad with power I wouldn't have found, or got on that crazy A.I.'s good side. If you look at it from a technical standpoint, you're the reason I'm free right now." Wheatley had no idea what she was talking about. Of course when this happened, he was busy creating those cube... Turret... Leggy things. He really should have come up with a good name for those. Not seeing any other possible response, Wheatley went with the best he could muster.

"You're... Welcome?" He wasn't really in the mood for heavy thinking. After the pointlessness of the last time he didn't want to over-think anything ever again. Chell knew that Wheatley probably didn't know what happened while she was trapped in the bowels of aperture. Well, that would be a story for another day, maybe when she found civilization. She wondered if she should just stay next to the stream today. Looking around for somewhere she could lay down, she noticed something strangely familiar. Several large wooden objects sticking out of the ground. They weren't trees, and they weren't that far away either, maybe a three minute walk. She'd only seen them as a kid, but she knew what they were. Power lines, and if she remembered correctly they were almost always near...

"Hey, I-" Wheatley had just remembered to ask for her name again. However once again before he could finish asking she brought something up.

"There's a road nearby!" It was perfect! A car would pass, she'd wave to it, get a ride to civilization and finally have a normal life! She bent down and sipped some more of the water directly from the stream, she didn't want to make the same mistake she made with the rain yesterday. After that, she stood up and picked Wheatley up off of the ground. A bit of water was still running down the edge of her mouth, she was just too excited to care.

"Okay, that's great! But-" Wheatley tried to assert himself. Again, he couldn't finish. Chell's head cocked over toward the Companion Cube.

"Right! Can't forget you!" Chell picked the Cube up, moving it under her arm. Best day of her entire life. Right here. All summarized in one string of events. Chell began to sprint toward the power lines. Wheatley stared at her for a moment. What was he going to say again?

"So, you've been quiet." Chell thought to the Companion Cube.

"Haven't needed to talk. You've got him." Chell's gaze drifted over to Wheatley's then returned to the Cube.

"Huh. I guess you're right. You've got a contender for your spot!" Chell joked. The Cube went silent. Chell could have sworn she heard it mumble something before so. Well, it knew she was only joking. The Cube had a sixth sense with those kinds of things. Wheatley was a little concerned with Chell's state of mind, she was moving her head like she was talking even though she wasn't. It looked was like she was talking to that Cube... Maybe the heat was getting to her. Chell shoved another wall of grass out of here way and found herself in a clearing. Not a very wide one but a really long one. It was a dirt road! not only that, but this road was well worn. Which could only mean one thing. Somebody had been actively using it.

_**Had a little trouble about a third to the end there but finally got it done. Next chapter will probably be another Space core one. To be honest about 50% of the wait between this and the last chapter was just because... Well honestly I got lazy.**_


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